Washington Wizards Blog

Comment from WizDom
Time August 17, 2007 at 3:29 PM

Nice.. I wonder for how long and how much..

Comment from odawg
Time August 17, 2007 at 3:39 PM

It’s been great Eric, good luck with your new opportunity!

Comment from WizDom
Time August 17, 2007 at 3:56 PM

Good luck Eric..
As least you left us in good hands with Will

Comment from chomp
Time August 17, 2007 at 4:45 PM

Eric – thanks for giving fans a chance to know more about the Wiz. And, can I have your WizardsDotCom s/n? Ha – first dibs!

Comment from Wizards4Life
Time August 17, 2007 at 5:15 PM

that’s cool that you got a shot to do this and we all appreciate you, your work and your comments and i hope you get to be rich and come back and buy us all wizards champion ship gear

Comment from Wiz034
Time August 17, 2007 at 5:17 PM

We’re going to miss you Eric. I wish you much success in your future endeavors. Thanks again for starting the BLOG..

Comment from FantasticWiz
Time August 17, 2007 at 5:43 PM

Thank you Eric… It was really a great journey working with you for the past six years. Your passion and knowledge for website/blog and the game of basketball will be greatly missed. Good luck to your new job and I look forward to your blog comments in the future.

Comment from Joscilyn33
Time August 17, 2007 at 6:11 PM

Oh Goodie!!! Not i mean come on not to be mean I like Andray he iight but if u 6′11 and u averageing less than 4 rebounds a game something must be wrong. I mean i might be in middle school averaging 10 rebonds cuz i am one of da biggest ppl on da court (5′7, 13) da dude is almost 7 ft tall only one person on da team is 6′11 like him and he averageing 3.4 rebounds…..and da points, he might not be on da team to score cuz dey have Gil so i aint gone get into him with dat, and he don’t even averge a block….

~Joscilyn much love, future WNBA star (sorry Andray, love ya!!! just need a little improvement on da rebounds and dats all)

p.s other than dat he needs help on rebounds, nice re-sign and ppl plez don’t think i am trippin for putting this haterism on here haha

Comment from floydanthony
Time August 17, 2007 at 6:12 PM

ALL RIGHT NOW!!! NO I CAN GET SOME TICKETS, THIS IS WHAT I HWVE BEEN WAITING FOR , WE HAVE A TEAM THAT CAN SCORE & DEFEND. GREAT MOVE ON SIZNING ANDRAY HE WILL MAKE US PROUD AND SHUT SOME PLAYER DOWN , AND ERNIE YOU ARE THE BEST !! I HAVE BEEN WATCHING THE MOVES AND YOU MADE ALL THE RIGHT MOVE, KEEP IT UP AND NEXT YEAR WE WILL GET LUCKY AND GET GREOGE TOWN CENTER COMEING OUT , THAT WOULD BE GREAT.. WELCOME HOME ANDRAY SHOW THEM WHAT YOU GOT , YOU ARE THE REAL DEAL……

Comment from dmac
Time August 17, 2007 at 7:02 PM

Eric best wishes in your future endeavors.
Now that we have AB signed I hope he now starts working out with Gil and the fellas. He need not hang out in Syracuse like Kwame hung out in Ga. Time to get serious about the game. Hopefully one day AB will replace AJ in the starting lineup. But it is going to take hard work and dedication. I believe that is what EG, EJ and Abe are hoping. Don’t think AB got resigned without EG checking without checking with the Big Three. There is so much AB could draw from Gil, AJ and Caron personally.
I keep saying if the WIZ can get some SPUR like unity they can take the East. That would really make the naysayers of the Wiz who have predicted us fighting for the 8th spot eat crow.

Comment from tules
Time August 17, 2007 at 7:08 PM

Thanks for everything Eric, all the best!

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 17, 2007 at 11:17 PM

We’ll miss you, eric — don’t disappear on us!

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time August 17, 2007 at 11:42 PM

Thanks for all of your help Eric. The very best of luck to you sir.

Comment from miestersean
Time August 18, 2007 at 12:03 AM

Eric, thanks for all of your hard work and good luck in the future!

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time August 18, 2007 at 12:04 AM

I’m glad they resigned Mr. Blatche. It gives us three 7′ players under contract. Thats 12. Anybody on wants for the other 3?

Comment from bigboy2378
Time August 18, 2007 at 7:14 AM

About time he signs. All we need now is for him to get his act together (off court) and continue to develope and play ball (on court). Great job EG

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 18, 2007 at 7:15 AM

They have also signed Taylor and Hall to non-guaranteed contracts. I think you can bring 18 into camp? Is that right?

Comment from LilGil
Time August 18, 2007 at 9:47 AM

I’m glad we re-signed Blatche, now I want the details
Eric, just one word: Thank’s. It’s been great chatting about the game all season long and especially getting the news before everyone through this blog, you’ve done a really great job. I wish you the best for what’s coming for you. Hope to see you here every night as last season

Comment from dopeboyfresh
Time August 18, 2007 at 11:39 AM

tom we’d have to pick up one more player to bring in 18…

remember jarvis hayes is a piston now

Comment from Wiz034
Time August 18, 2007 at 2:56 PM

Blatche deal is worth 15 millions over the nexe five years..so I guess old Abe overlooked the incident and loosened the purse strings.

http://wizards.realgm.com/

Comment from natsdude562
Time August 18, 2007 at 3:07 PM

Hey Eric,

Have a great time at your new job, can you email me back I emailed you like 4 weeks ago…… Thanks.

Comment from dmac
Time August 18, 2007 at 6:09 PM

Hey Tom I believe Brian Chase has a good chance of beating out Donnell Taylor for a spot on the team. Even though he is only 5 ft. 9 inches tall he has better point guard skills and a better 3 pointer than Donnell. Plus Brian who works out with Agent Zero is a local hometown favorite who can ball. There is always room on the roster for the small guy with the big heart. When other teams go real small at the point we will have Brian to go to. Now I like Donnell but he did not do well when he got more minutes in the playoffs against the Cavs. Of course I would have loved to had Aaron Miles but he is European bound as we know.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 18, 2007 at 10:18 PM

With Blatche, as well as Taylor and Hall (both non-guaranteed), we’re at 14. We can take 15 into the season, and we can bring more than that – but I don’t know the number – to camp. Chase will come to camp, but I’m hard-pressed to see a 5′8″ guy making the team. Figure Booth being signed as well.

Donell has everything you’d want except he is not a player! He’s had two years to earn minutes, and he hasn’t been able to do it. I think it was a mistake not to guarantee Miles and bring him on, but there are still guards out there. I would have signed Devin Brown before DeShawn for that matter; he is a better player by the numbers (and you know I believe the numbers).

Here’s hoping Blatche concentrates and turns into a player; he didn’t do much last year, though he showed occasional flashes. To be honest, I don’t see us improving over last year based on the off-season. We’re better *long-term* as Pecherov, Young and McGuire grow up. But, we haven’t added anything that will give us more wins next year.

Comment from Wizards4Life
Time August 18, 2007 at 11:15 PM

just to get some post in here witch player do you think will play 5 for the wizards now that peach is with the team?

and by the way if your a madden fan and you got 08 check out the extras they got a NBA live 08 promo on there with Gil talking about it a little and some nice shots of Gil in the game (in the Gold tho ewwww)

Comment from WizDom
Time August 19, 2007 at 1:01 AM

^ Haywood should be the starter at 5.

Comment from Wizards4Life
Time August 19, 2007 at 1:45 AM

i would agree but what Haywood will start Brenda or Brendan? i mean the guy could be a all star but i don’t think he has the desire / determination to do that! its like this Gil plays one grate game but he is always trying to get better he is in the gym day in and day out but being good is not Gil he wants to be the best put that attitude into Haywood and eventually you got a dominating low post player he has the gifts and the skill but will he use them! i for one am kinda tired of waiting for him to grow up

Comment from LilGil
Time August 19, 2007 at 6:55 AM

I think that the starting center has to be decided depending on how Brendan “is” right now, I mean the guy asked to get traded… I don’t really care about his possible beef with etan, they’re players it happends, but I’m concerned about his relation with coach Jordan… If they’re still not okay with each other Eddie won’t give him the playing time he deserves and Brendan won’t act with a team mentality you know, that’s the point. I like Brendan, I’m sure he can be great but he gotta change the way he acts. I don’t have the details of what went on between ‘em so I can’t blame anyone, but as a Wiz fan I hope they’ll calm down and work together. If he doesn’t start I guess I’d say let’s start Etan while getting Pech ready to play the 5.

Comment from tyrone20000
Time August 19, 2007 at 4:52 PM

Hey now, Haywood should be the starter and I notice that the more minutes he gets the better the team plays…I don’t understand what LilGil is saying about Haywoods’ attitude but apparently others notice. Not many low post scoring centers out there. I am not a Etan Thomas hater but no way should he be starting or getting more than 10 minutes a game unless he calls for a double team on the post.

Comment from LilGil
Time August 19, 2007 at 5:15 PM

My english isn’t great since I’m still learning it, sorry. What I wanted to say is that if Brendan keeps acting the way he has been for the last games it’ll be hard for everybody… I mean when you have a guy who doesn’t want to be a part of the team you’re in trouble…

Comment from bigboy2378
Time August 19, 2007 at 8:03 PM

Quiet is kept we had a good offseason and what seems to be a GREAT draft with the 2nd round gem in Dmac. Looking at next offseason when AJ salary comes of the books. We give Gil his max and what do with do with that rest. What free agents are available that will address our needs?

Last things, I thought we were trying to get rid of a contract along with the rights to Navarro? All we got was a conditional 1st rd pick with escalators that are ridiculous. If we were going to get that we should have let him go back overseas for another year or two because we would not have lose anything.

Comment from BruceO
Time August 20, 2007 at 12:53 AM

on another note. I heard that arenas and nick young are landlord and renter, and apparently he might be showing him some of the ropes. I suggested it before that he should take the kids to task to reach their potential, dre, pech, dmac and young define the teams future. Arenas can show nick young offense which is youngs strong point. Infact i feel young has better potential from the three point line in. Arenas has better range. I want to see something about the rookies and dray and see how their training plans are.
But if arenas is showing young moves (and arenas sr coached young so he knows him as well) moves that will help him in an offense thats traditionally been good for our shooting gaurds, then i’d say young may have a good future and produce for us..

Comment from Brickjp
Time August 20, 2007 at 11:05 AM

So I just found this link on CNN.com:

http://www.wesh.com/news/13929862/detail.html

This is not good. Waiting impatiently for more info.

Comment from BruceO
Time August 20, 2007 at 12:28 PM

man crazy news brick. Sounds like the dude was mad about his girl getting picked up. Getting shot in the leg is like an arongant thing to do cause you are trying to hurt someone and not afraid that he’ll come back and try and reciprocate

Comment from Wiz034
Time August 20, 2007 at 3:39 PM

It doesn’t sound like Deshawn was involved. Just sounds like someone mad because his woman was tipping. *LOL*

Comment from smchawk
Time August 20, 2007 at 3:49 PM

If I’m asleep and someone comes over and starts shooting, as is seeming to be claimed – I’m pressing charges. That to me indicates guilt – not neccesarily Stevenson, but of someone else there besides Ruff. Additionally if Ruff was shot, I doubt he did it to himself, which he must have if those at Stevenson’s house are claiming they never fired any weapons.

Comment from LilGil
Time August 20, 2007 at 5:02 PM

Well I just hope DeShawn was intelligent enough not to carry an unregistred gun and intelligent enough not to shoot someone… Anyway this proves that Florida ain’t good at all for Wizards players (remember the Gil arrestation for getting out of his limo?) so guys stay in Maryland!

Comment from AUNDRA
Time August 20, 2007 at 5:05 PM

I will only look at the positives.First things first we Wizards fans have a tremendous young and talented player who could possibly take over Antwaan spot in the future and with the lessons learned from past problems should be a better person overall!Second he is working his butt off to prove he has potential to be a 10 points and 10 rebounds man this year!Third he has to produce now because the electron microsope is on him now and when he makes his big breakout to the upside of his potential. Finally I have nothing negative to say about Dre-Day but don’t forget we are all pulling for you to succeed!
Good Luck

Comment from BruceO
Time August 20, 2007 at 11:11 PM

the only reason I’m down on andray is cause he isnt working hard so aundra’s second point is questionable. other than that if he does I would bet on him being a better player than AJ preety soon. Which is a huge bet.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time August 21, 2007 at 1:55 AM

That’s the way I interpreted it Smchawk. Here is in hoping Mr. Stevenson was far enough removed to have it not be an “issue”!

Comment from Wiz034
Time August 21, 2007 at 8:34 AM

Come on guys, Stevenson was asleep. He didn’t know what happened until it was over. In other words he was minding his own business…

Comment from Nara
Time August 21, 2007 at 11:06 AM

It might be late but good luck to you Eric.

Dray’s got a LOOOONG way to go before he can start in place of AJ. Given that he does have talent, there was that exchange between AJ and Andray last season Ivan Carter of the Post blogged about that makes me question the boy’s hunger. Some people have it naturally like MJ and Kobe. Some people never get it like Kwame. Some people develop it like Gil. What will Andray do?

Comment from brian
Time August 21, 2007 at 1:47 PM

I live in orlando guys, it is very open community, stars and regs” live side by side. u can ride by and see them in their yards. shaq has a home out there tiger woods, justin timberlake, brian mcknight, and many others, if deshawns homies are trouble then they need to be cut from him. hint michael vick! orlando isa safe place to live as long as ur around the right people! orlando is definitely a party city thats why deshawn is still there! but he has not been in any trouble since he has been there so he is fine dont jump to conclusions! just check those goons around him! one more thing! i hate when an athelete get mentioned in an incident that they bring up his past! what did deshawns rape charge from high school to UTAH have to do with anything? he wasnt involved in this! and that charge wasnt legit! get a life people! im in corrections and probation and parole so lets not talk about ur DUI charges!

Comment from LilGil
Time August 21, 2007 at 2:34 PM

I’m a 100% with you Brian it’s gettin too much some kind of focus on DeShawn’s life. As Eric asked us when Gil claimed that he’d opt out of his contract and we started talkin about his family. Let’s just focus on the sport side of things, we ain’t cops (I aint at least) and we don’t have to investigate on his case, this far DeShawn doesn’t seem to be in trouble, so let’s chill especially for the ones speakin about him being a thug or a gangster…

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time August 27, 2007 at 2:20 PM

The Wizard’s have done a great job improving their coaching staff this summer. However, I feel the Wizard’s have lacked in improving their roster in significant ways during the free-agency period. Although the Wizard’s re-signed DeShawn, Andray, Donnel, and Mike Hall (who are all great players or will be great players in a couple years), the Wizards have failed to acquire any high scoring starters or players who are able to score off the bench this off season nor have they acquired any true defensive players (although they officially added Oleksiy Pecherov who I think will do good this year for the team). During the off season, the league has witnessed the Eastern conference become stronger than before with the addition of several key players from the West such as Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Zach Randolph, Rashard Lewis, and Jason Richardson. Now that these players have shifted from terrible Western Conference teams (besides Jason) to below average-slightly above average Eastern Conference teams, the East is now more of a threat then it was before. The Washington Wizard’s orginization has watched Juwan Howard, Richard Hamilton, Larry Hughes, Jerry Stackhouse, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and now Jarvis Hayes (just to name a few) leave the Wizard’s orginization over the years through free agency, trades, or personal issues. I feel that the Washington Wizards need to look at the big scheme of things and realize that they don’t have a dominating force on defense or a very powerful scoring bench. I feel that the Wizards need to consider letting some of the bench players go either through trade or waiving their contracts and find some dominant defensive players or scorers who do not expect a very big contract right now (just like what DeShawn did). If the Wizards are able to do that then I feel they will not be threatened by the recently strengthened Eastern Conference. I know that Ernie Grunfield has stated he does not want to go over the sallary cap, but somehow, some way, the Wizards need to get a better bench.

Comment from brian
Time August 27, 2007 at 3:15 PM

i feel ya on some things but i must disagree because the wizards bench is much better. honestly last year coming off the bench all we had was etan, AD, and hayes. now we have AD, etan, nick, dominic, and OP! nick is going to be an all star within 5-7 seasons, dominic should have been a first round pick he has a bright future, and OP is mysterious he can either make us or break us. AD is AD and etan is etan. it was definitely an upgrade, but as far as being a gaurenteed championship contender we are so so in that area. we have a shot. but a we are one star short of a dynasty in the making! i would love to see deshawn come off the bench because he and caron are sort of the same. mid range jumper slash take it to the hoop and tough D. i would love to have a three point bomber like redd, or allen, maybe even salim stoudemire to keep pressure off gil, but then again while they are doubling gil up top deshawn and caron are wide open on the wings! i like deshawn as an energy booster like a sixth man!

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time August 27, 2007 at 8:30 PM

I hear ya brian. I think if we had one or two more really good veteran players then we will be good. I think the Wizards need to make an offer to either Anderson Varejao, Mickael Pietrus, Sasha Pavlovic, Chuck Hayes, or even Michael Sweetney. Those guys are the top free-agents left on the table. All of those guys put up a good amount of points off the bench for their teams and are not that old of players so could eventually become starting status players. Either one of those guys would be great for the Wizards in addition to many of the good players they have. I personally would try looking to get rid of Michael Ruffin, Calvin Booth, and Roger Mason because they just haven’t proven themselves as dominant players coming off the bench.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time August 29, 2007 at 12:09 AM

WizFan I’d love to have any of the players you mentioned, but, I don’t think we can afford them without a trade being involved. How do you feel about Charles Oakley? Hmmm? lol. Is he in shape and ready to play or is this a ploy to sell his upcoming book? Calvin Booth / Charles Oakley ? Hmmm.

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time August 29, 2007 at 11:36 AM

GrifonRacing I don’t think Charles Oakley will come back to the NBA. He’s like 44 years old! that would be insane if he came back. As for the Wizard’s situation, I think if the Wizards were willing to pay the luxury tax (Which Ernie Grunfield has stated they don’t want to do), then maybe we could be able to get rid of Ruffin, Booth and Mason for some better free agents. Oh yeah, my name is Grif also! lol. You are like the 2nd person I have ever talked to whose name is Grif. lol.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time September 1, 2007 at 12:01 AM

It’s very nice to meet you Grif. My name is actually Jack. We have raced dirt and asphalt for years and have always used a large “Griffin” decal on the race cars, hauler, and trailer.

Before I posted about Charles Oakley I had just seen an interview on ESPN where he said he was serious about coming back into the NBA. He also said in the same breath that he is in the process of writing a book with a couple of chapters still missing? Hmmmmm? I thought is was kinda funny as these days Brendan Haywood probably has more “hops”? lol

Comment from neal
Time September 2, 2007 at 10:36 PM

I see Blatche is at it again. Got scolded by the judge for not being in touch with the court. The guy is just undisciplined. I hope he does well at the beginning of the year and can be used as trade bait.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time September 3, 2007 at 12:40 AM

I sure hope he grows up in time to at least try to reach his potential. I’m glad the NBA stopped drafting kids out of high school. So few of them, if any, are ready physically or emotionally. Be patient Neal… he is still a kid.

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time September 4, 2007 at 5:48 PM

Does anyone know where the Wizard’s training camp will be held? have they announced it yet? Last year they held it at VCU, a college in Richmond, VA and I got a chance to see them play. I have posted this in 2 other blogs on this site and no one has yet to know the answer….Some feed-back would be really great!

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time September 5, 2007 at 12:21 AM

I haven’t heard a word about it yet Grif